Saturday, June 11, 2011

J/105s, J/109s, J/80s, J/24s Love SoCal Sunshine
(Marina Del Rey, CA)- In their usual fashion, the amazing facility that
Cal YC offers to its members and visiting sailors is second to none in
terms of fun, hospitality and excellent race management. Rolling out
the red carpet for eight one-design classes, including four J-classes,
the J/24s, J/80s, J/105s and J/109s, the J sailors responded with good
turnouts in all four fleets.

In fact, the number of J/24s attending equalled those sailing that
famous "old" Olympic class- the Stars! Imagine that, kudos to the 24
fleet for continuing to have so much fun with their buddies. Susan
Taylor on TAKE FIVE again showed the boys her tail feathers and managed
to nearly "run the table" with four firsts and one second to win with a
total of 6 pts. The battle for second came down to the last two races
between Tom Tunberg's BULLET and Jim Bauerley's CRITTER. Ultimately, it
was Tom's 3-3-2-3-1 for 12 pts beat out Jim's team with a 2-4-5-2-3 for
16 pts, for second and third respectively.

Also showing strength and having fun were the five J/80s. This year it
was a repeat win for Curt Johnson on AVET sailing to a 1-1-2-2-1 for 7
pts. An up-and-comer showing great promise for the future, winning two
races in a row, was Dan Gribble's DUI sailing to a 3-3-1-1-4 for 12 pts
to secure second place. Third was Bob Hayward's BLUE JAY with a
2-2-3-4-3 for 14 pts.

The J/105 always shows up with a good number of very competitive teams
from the SoCal neighborhood. Sure enough, past winners of San Diego and
Los Angeles area J/105 SoCal series were on the starting line going for
all the gold. However, showing a remarkable turn of speed and
consistent sailing was Gary Mozer's team on CURRENT OBSESSION 2 dialing
it up a notch to nearly "run the table" as well like Susan in the J/24s,
getting four firsts and a third for 7 pts to win by 8 pts! That's a
spanking! The contest for second was a donnybrook going into the final
two races for four teams, all the action was taking place here as Gary's
CO2 team took off over the horizon. Rick Goebel's SANITY, John
Howell's BLINK!, Don Poppe's ROCK & ROLL and Ed Sanford's CREATIVE
had a great series racing one another. In the end, Rick's SANITY team
squeaked ahead to finish with a 3-3-6-2-1, coming on strong at the end
to finish with 15 pts and get second overall. Third was determined by a
tie-breaker, with the nod going to John's BLINK! crew due to a
4-2-2-4-6 record for 18 pts and Don's ROCK & ROLL crew got the
short-end of that stick with a 2-4-3-5-4 record also for 18 pts. While
starting out slowly, Ed's CREATIVE team nearly pulled off a third,
ending up fourth with a 6-5-4-3-2 tally for 20 pts. All in all great
sailing amongst the J/105 teams.

While
the J/105s and J/24s both had runaway winners and battles for podium
honors for silver and bronze, the J/109s had a tough battle for the
entire series between two well-sailed boats, Alice Leahey's GRACE
O'MALLEY and Tom Brott's ELECTRA. Both teams sailed fast and smart and
didn't give an inch. However, there was no holding back Alice's first
attempt at winning silverware in the J/109 class at Cal Race Week. Both
teams sailed to a tie-breaker, Alice getting a 3-1-2-1-1 for 8 pts to
win over Tom's 1-2-1-2-2 also for 8 pts. Watching the fireworks at the
front of the fleet was Bryce Benjamin's PERSISTENCE, counting a
consistent 2-3-3-3-3 record for 14 pts.

PHRF Class was won by Fred Cottrell's J/133 TIGGER, literally "running
the table" with five straight firsts for 5 pts, the only boat in the
regatta to do so and completely dominate their class. Way to go Fred!
For more Cal Race Week sailing information